During the reporting period, Israeli forces killed two Palestinians and injured ten others in incidents involving air strikes and access restrictions to land near the fence dividing Israel and the Gaza Strip.

Since the beginning of the year, 58 Palestinians (including 22 civilians) have been killed and 233 Palestinians (including 208 civilians) have been injured in Palestinian-Israeli conflict in the Gaza Strip.

On 17 November, the Israeli Air Force targeted a car containing an alleged senior member of the “Army of Islam” faction in Gaza City. The man and his brother, also allegedly affiliated to this faction, were killed. Two separate air strikes hit a house under construction in the Deir Al Balah area and an open field east of Khan Younis, injuring five Palestinian civilians including two children (aged 13 and 2.5). The house also sustained severe damage. The air strikes were reportedly carried out in retaliation for the firing of rockets at southern Israel by Palestinian factions. No Israeli injuries or damage to property were reported as a result of the rocket fire.

Israeli restrictions on access to areas located up to 1,500 metres (a buffer zone comprising 17 percent of Gaza’s territory) from the fence continue to result in casualties. In five separate incidents this week, Israeli forces opened fire at Palestinian workers collecting scrap metal in this buffer zone, injuring five of them, including a 13-year-old boy. In another two separate incidents, Israeli forces opened fire at farmers working on their land near the fence; no injuries were reported. One farmer, however, sustained shrapnel wounds this week when an UXO (unexploded ordnance) exploded near the fence, east of Khan Younis. On eight separate occasions, Israeli forces launched incursions with bulldozers and tanks a few hundred meters into the Gaza Strip and withdrew after leveling land.

Barring access to fishing areas beyond three nautical miles from the shore remains in place. In four separate incidents, Israeli naval forces opened ‘warning’ fire at Palestinian fishing boats, forcing them ashore. No injuries were reported.

Also this week, two boys (aged 11 and 12) were killed and another one (aged 14) was injured when one of the tunnels, allegedly built for military purposes by Palestinian factions in the Jabaliya area, collapsed.